WHAT HAPPEN WHEN YOU DRINK TOO MUCH OF WATER

Have you hear the saying 'too much of everything is bad' before?

Chances are - you agree but not in the case of the amount of water you drink, this mean that you may not have think it bad that drinking too much of water may be bad.

We don't need to talk about how many percentage of our body or brain is made of water or percentage of the earth covered with water, we know how important water is for the cells and organs in our body to function properly, no wonder we replace water lost from the body immediately as failure to do so will lead to dehydration causing 

• muscle cramps

• fatigue

• heat stroke

• diarrhea

• headache

• vomiting

• and dizziness among others.

We drink water to remain healthy but is there anything like drinking too much?
Yes. When you drink lot of water at a very short time it can lead to over-hydration causing water intoxication.

Water intoxication is the disruption of how the brain function as a result of excessive water intake. It causes imbalance in the body between electrolytes and water(hyponatremia).

The kidney will process about half of a liter of water at about an hour, when you drink more than the kidney can expel the excess water by osmosis will seep into areas of the body with high concentration of electrolytes such as the blood and inside of cells.

Fluids in and outside of cells is balanced with the help of sodium, when you drink too much of water the excess water dilute the sodium level(electrolytes) in the blood making it drop below normal (135mmol/L) thus letting fluid move to the inside of cells and making the cells swell as a result.
When water intoxication gets to the extent of making cells swell it is very dangerous and so victims should meet a Doctor immediately who can inject concentrated water to counter the problem or give other medical treatment.

How can you prevent over-hydration?

Drink a measure of water that the body needs and not more than the body expel through sweat urine or breathing. But this might be difficult to do so below are tips that will help you remain properly hydrated.

Tips
Drink 8 cups of water a day is a wrong idea to remain properly hydrated. The amount of water you drink daily depends on your height, weight and how much you expel water from your body.

Drink water only when you feel thirsty and have a urge to drink.

Check the color of your pee to see if it tells good about your health. Click here to see what the colors of urine say about health

Drink properly before and after exercising.

When you exercise in the hot for up to an hour, sport drinks that contain electrolytes and 6-8 percent of water can be a supplement for water.